16 replies to this topic

[shepherdscove]

Hi. How does off grid work with water? We have 1000l IBC tanks, mostly for animal use eventually so we'll harvest rainwater in them. Can this be used for human consumption, if so how would we filter it? Would Legionairs disease or the like be a problem?
Thanks

[Sunnysouthdevon]

I'm a plumber by trade and I'd never recommend you drink harvested water, the bacteria that thrives in stored water can be hard to detect let alone remove. I've connected filtered rainwater to washing machines, toilets animal troughs etc but never anything for human consumption , most washing machines use in excess of 100 litres of water per wash!!!!! I think mole valley farmers do a filter system for rainwater harvesting and you could effectively boast the outlet pressure from the tanks by using a negative pressure pump

[adrian007]

Borehole all day long.

 

Aquasource charge just under £4k for a borehole up to 40 meters deep... or they did when I last spoke to them. If you google 'borehole map' you should be able to find a map of every registered borehole, to see how deep the ones near you are, which will be a guide if 40m is enough.

 

It's on my list, to save water bills - I just haven't had that capital available to do it just yet.

[j and H]

we use the IBC water for washing machine and animals…we are lucky enough to receive drinking water from our neighbour, or we simply buy it, 

one of my plumbers have said, its best to have a tank underground, 

 

you can buy sterilising tablets , we used them in the Army, to be able to drink rain and stream water, but to be honest, buying drinking water isn't that expensive if you buy the multi packs from lidl or aldi

 

we will get a bore hole eventually , as we do have a few streams running underground….the neighbour has 7 natural springs

[pigsmitefly]

shepherdscove,,  get yourself a stand pipe and key,, ebay £ 50.00   as much free drinking water as you want,, 

[Sunnysouthdevon]

Yeah and as many trips to the local police station as he wants for theft of water

[pigsmitefly]

i didnt say you can do it without reprocutions, but in saying that, you can by law take water from a standpipe, if you purchase a licence from water company, that is also about £ 50.00, or it was last time i had one,

[Sunnysouthdevon]

Your correct you on both accounts there but I think the local water company would question his need to use a standpipe

[shepie]

Rain water is usually contaminated via bird dung etc and has worm eggs in
Stream and river etc have bugs and nitrates
Spring water can have iron ore etc contamination but sure ultra violet or similar will kill a lot of things
There are pleanty of water specialist around who will give you the right info
We have a well and mains but don't use the well water

[adrian007]

Standpipe requires mains.

 

If you have mains, ask for a field connection, to ensure your animals have water.

 

This is cheap and easy, and you pay 'site' rates for the water, not residential or business.

 

Put the tap right next to the mains if you can - then there are no trenches that need approving etc.

[shepherdscove]

Thanks everyone, great replies! We have mains but at the moment it's only connected to to the standpipe and not to the various troughs and taps that are on our land. We share a meter with two other houses and when we brought the land, the previous owners turned the other taps off to save the expense (so they said and I'm totally unsure of how to go about getting them back on!) we currently pay for our usage through the previous owners who still own the farmhouse next door. It's on my list to get a mains supply for ourselves but in the meantime, and possibly for future, I was looking for a more economical and ecological way. After all, it keeps raining, shame to not use it and our current 9 water butts (yep!) are full!
Ps..He is a She, lol!!!!

[YousexyMF]

There are many filtration options nowadays. I'm sure you can use rain water and filter it for human consumption a dive no doubt it'll be much healthier than what comes out of taps now.

[YousexyMF]

Yeah and as many trips to the local police station as he wants for theft of water

Will the water owner turn up to prosecute?

Who owns it?

[Sunnysouthdevon]

The local water supplying the supply..... Thames water, south west water etc
And yes they will prosecute you for drawing water illegally

[Tom Bombadil]

Lots of folk in the US use simple counter-top filters for human consumption. I have one and it can filter sewage! Their water comes from many sources but roof water is last on the list. The areas that folk go to that need water from a new source will dig a small well (a piece of cake) and hand pump that at first, but lots end up drilling in the end if they want lots of out of season water. But the hand pump stays close to the home, and they use that happily.

The animals are watered by rain and 'land drain' and stream harvesting. From catchment area to filter to tank.

It is simpler than it sounds. A filter can be sand, with a bacteria top layer that is a cleansing bacteria layer. The water then drains down quite clean, that even a human can use it. But I would not without that tabletop unit.

The water sent by the water companies is not fit to drink, so they cleanse it with chemicals. Its fine for an animal slaughtered within a year, but it can be smelled on the meat after that, and is only an issue to most folk if they respect the animal in all its life as much as they can. But saying that, most of the chems in the water only have an effect if they have not been left open to air for a day, not an issue in most cases.

[adrian007]

My brother in law works for one of the water companies as a scientist.

 

He only drinks and cooks with bottled water.

 

Take from that what you will!

[j and H]

as we do adrian, its not that expensive really,